“You could certainly wake up to a lot worse,” Callie said. “As wakeup-to faces go, David’s would be the one I’d choose, every time. So, you ready?”
Eve drew a breath. “Let ’em in.” No sooner had she uttered the words than Sal was there, his arms around her, hard and safe. He was trembling, she realized. No, he was crying. The tears she’d blinked back burst free. “I’m okay,” she said, patting his back. “Totally okay.”
He nodded, his face pressed against the curve of her neck. “Don’t ever do that to me again,” he grunted. He pulled back and wiped at his eyes, unashamed.
Callie handed her a tissue. “Or he’ll fire you. He said that on the way over, about six times.”
Sal shot her a dirty look. “I was emotional.”
Eve patted his cheek. “I think you’re sweet,” she said. “But fiscally irresponsible. I can’t believe you closed the bar. There’s a game tonight.”
“Nobody was there anyway,” Noah said from the door, and as always, he took her breath away. It didn’t seem to matter what kind of doorway he stood in, the result was the same. “It appears they’re all downstairs, waiting to see you.”
Sal twisted around to stare at Noah, then looked back at Eve with a satisfied smirk. “So I suppose you’ll be taking that bottle to Trina’s on Sunday after all?”
She met Noah’s eyes and in them saw everything she’d ever wanted. “I suppose I will.” She struggled to sit up. “Now, how about those visitors? I hope they brought flowers. I haven’t had flowers since the last time I got kidnapped.”
Thursday, February 25, 8:30 p.m.
Olivia gratefully wrapped her hands around the cup of coffee Kane had coaxed from the vending machine in the hospital’s waiting room. “Thanks, I needed this.”
“You need to go home, Liv,” he said gently.
“I will. I just want to check on Liza and Eve first.”
“Is Micki still at the scene?”
Pierce’s basement had been a hellacious discovery, branded into her memory. “Yeah. Probably will be for days. If you don’t mind, I don’t want to talk about that now.”
“Okay.” In true Kane fashion, he was quiet until she was ready to talk again.
“I called Social Services,” she finally said. “Got a nice place for Liza.”
“That’s good.”
She looked away, too close to tears. “Kane. The bodies in that pit… it was horrible.”
He brushed his big hand down her hair. “See the ladies, and I’ll take you home.”
“You’re a fine chauffeur. You got your lights smacked out today, too. I’ll be okay. But thank you.” She drew a breath. “Let’s go.”
They went into Liza Barkley’s hospital room where the girl lay, grimly coherent. She remembered everything, Olivia knew. Liza had her arms crossed and stared straight ahead. She was alive, but her sister was not, and that put the girl on a long, lonely road.
Tom sat at her side, quietly, not touching her. He stood when Olivia and Kane entered. “I was with Eve, but she had a crowd.”
And Liza was all alone. Olivia stood by her bed, touched her shoulder. “I found a really nice place for you to go when they let you out tomorrow. The woman that runs the home is a personal friend of mine. She’ll take good care of you.”
Liza looked up, her eyes dead. “Thank you,” she murmured. “For everything.”
Olivia met Tom’s eyes, saw the helplessness there and knew how he felt. “You both have my number. Call me day or night if you need me. I’ll let you rest now. I’ll be back tomorrow when they release you.”
Olivia was at the door when Liza spoke again. “Detective. Did he live?”
It was, perhaps, the one bright spot. “No.”
Liza’s eyes flickered wildly, but her voice was calm. “My sister. Did you find her?”
“Yes.” And she could see it in her mind. Probably always would.
Liza nodded. “I understand.”
“You two did good. We might not have found him in time without that license plate. Try to sleep now. Tom, I’ll see you later.”
Outside, she slumped against the wall and shuddered.
“There wasn’t anything left of her sister, was there?” Kane asked.
“No,” Olivia said hoarsely. “Just bones.”
“Jennie’s downstairs, waiting for me.” Jennie was Kane’s wife. “You’re coming home with us. You’re not going to be alone tonight, Liv,” he added sharply, when she tried to argue, then he smiled to soften his words. “I’ll carry you out of here if I have to.”
Olivia nodded wearily. “Okay. Just for tonight.” She didn’t think she could be alone tonight. “Let’s go by Eve’s room. I’ll make it quick.”
Thursday, February 25, 8:45 p.m.
They’d all come, Eve thought, still a little stunned. Fifteen minutes before she and Noah had been sitting in her hospital room, Noah sporting a thick bandage on his head and she with her leg elevated, the bullet hole wrapped and treated.
And then, the horde had descended. My family. They came. Dana and Ethan, Caroline and Max, Mia and her husband, Reed. David had called them and without a second thought, they’d come. They were noisy and laughing and joyful.
And mine. The tears came again in a torrent, but that was okay, because they’d all been crying, too. Dana had plopped her pregnant self down on the bed beside her and hugged her like she’d never let go while everyone eyed Noah as if he were an alien from outer space.
A new roar of welcome rose when Olivia came into the room. “I just came to check on the patient,” she said, her voice falsely bright, then stopped short when she saw Mia standing by the window next to her husband. “I didn’t know you were here.” Then Olivia burst into unexpected tears and tried to escape, but hit the wall of Kane.
Mia put her arms around her. “I didn’t want to distract you,” she said. A homicide detective herself, Mia understood the pressure. Olivia, trying to find me and Liza before it was too late. And dealing with what Pierce left behind.
“Come,” Mia told her sister. “Reed will take us back to our hotel and we’ll have chocolate. It’ll be all right.” Mia and Kane shared a knowing glance. “Thanks, Kane. We’ve got her now.” Then she looked at Eve. “Try to stay out of trouble, kid, okay?”
Eve watched them go with a sigh. She knew Mia had come as much for Olivia as she had for her and that was as it should be.
“Mia will know what to do. I can’t imagine…” I won’t think about the pit. Not tonight.
Beside her, Dana hugged her hard. “You’re here,” she said firmly. “And okay.”
“And you hacked into ShadowCo.” Ethan pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. “I am so proud. I’ll contact them on Monday, tell them they have a network security issue.”
“Then I want half the commission when they hire you to fix it,” Eve said.
“A third,” Ethan said. “Okay, half,” he amended when Dana elbowed him.
“You led her into this life of hacker crime,” Caroline said, amused.
Max scoffed at that. “You all did, with the clandestine activities and taking care of people whether they wanted it or not. Speaking of clandestine activities, where is Tom?”
“He went to sit with Liza,” Eve said and they all sobered again. “Poor kid. I wish…”
Dana leaned her head against Eve’s shoulder. “We’ll just be there for her.”
Like Dana always was for me. “I know.”
Caroline stood. “We’re out of here now, but we’ll come back tomorrow. We’re staying at a hotel about three blocks from your place. When you get out, we’ll have Dana’s baby shower in our room, then we have to be getting back.” She looked up over her shoulder at Max. “Your mother will be tearing her hair out with all the kids.”
Between Caroline’s and Dana’s toddlers, Dana’s fosters, and Mia’s adopted son, Max and David’s mom had ten kids under her care. The horde, squared. It made Eve smile.
“Mom loves it,” Max said. “Don’t let her fool you.” He leaned over and kissed Eve on the forehead. “Three times is your charm, kid. No more getting kidnapped, okay?”